Cover-OCO for legged order

ABSTRACT

A position associated with a synthetic spread order may be managed where a status of a synthetic spread order is identified as legged. The synthetic spread order may have at least one child hedge order pending at an electronic exchange and in response, a bracket order is submitted to an electronic exchange for the tradable object associated with a filled leg of the synthetic spread. In response to execution of the bracket order, the child hedge order may be cancelled.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/451,465, filed Aug. 5, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,990,676, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/915,189, filed Jun.11, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/746,151, filed Jan. 21, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,498,927, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/637,536, filed Dec.14, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,386,368, entitled “Cover-OCO for LeggedOrder,” the contents of each of which are fully incorporated herein byreference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to electronic trading, andparticularly to tracking and managing orders for synthetic spreadtrading.

BACKGROUND

Electronic trading generally occurs across a network of computers,servers, gateways, processors and other related devices. In general, ahost exchange (also referred to as an electronic exchange, or simplyexchange) generally having one or more centralized computers, forms anelectronic heart of an electronic trading system. The centralizedcomputers are configured to receive and process orders for one or moretradable objects generally received from traders and/or users via theelectronic trading system, other electronic trading systems and/or otherhost exchanges.

To process the orders, the host exchange maintains an order book for atradable object and matches contra orders for the tradable objectaccording to a matching algorithm. The order book records unexecuted,pending, orders for the tradable object. The orders in the order bookare collectively referred to as the inside market and market depth forthe tradable object.

The host exchange may manage and update a database for data for tradableobjects traded, listed, and/or exchanged at the host exchange and/orother host exchanges and may supply or broadcast the data regardingtradable objects via a data feed. The data is generally supplied orbroadcast real-time, or substantially real-time, from the host exchange.The information may be supplied in the form of streaming data or othersuitable form for supplying data via a data feed. The informationgenerally identifies the order book for a tradable object, and includesinformation identifying order pricing and information for orders thathave been filled (otherwise known as matched or executed).

Users of the electronic trading system (also referred to as traders)connect to the host exchange via a client device to receive informationfrom the host exchange via the data feed. The client device also mayreceive data from one or more host exchanges via one or more data feeds.

Using the client device, the trader may visualize the information andsend orders to the host exchange. Similarly, the client device mayautomatically, without human intervention, send orders to one or morehost exchanges. The orders may be sent to the host exchange based on thedata received from the host exchange, based on data received fromanother host exchange, and/or based on events and/or conditionsidentified from data or information received from other sources.

The host exchange receives and records the order in a database with likeorders. For example, all orders for a tradable object are stored to forma database for the orders for the tradable object. The orders for thetradable object at the host exchange form the order book. The orders aregenerally arranged according to price and sequence in which the orderwas received, where orders with the same price that have not beenexecuted, but are pending a match from a contra order are organizedtogether in the sequence that the order was received at the hostexchange.

The orders pending a match at the host exchange are generally matchedaccording to the match algorithm for the exchange. Common matchalgorithms include a first-in, first-out (FIFO), pro-rata, and hybridFIFO and pro-rata match algorithms. In a FIFO match algorithm, orders ata price level are matched based on the time or sequence that the orderwas received at the host exchange, where orders are generally filledwith priority given to the first order entered at the price, then thesecond (next) order entered, and so forth. In a pro-rata algorithm at aprice level are matched based on the size of the order relative to otherorders at the same price. Hybrid systems match orders in a combinationof FIFO and pro-rata matching. Other variations of matching algorithmsmay be used as well.

A trading strategy may be straightforward, such as trading an individualtradable object, or may be complex, such as trading of multiple tradableobjects, also referred to as spread trading. In general, spread tradingincludes simultaneous, or substantially simultaneous, buying and/orselling of one, two, or more tradable objects. The tradable objects of aspread are commonly known as outright markets or legs of the spread.

A purpose of spread trading is to provide for trading of the movement ofthe market for the tradable object(s). A spread often provides anothermeasure for hedging risk. The spread allows the trader to capitalize onchanges or movements in the relationships between the tradable object(s)of the spread.

A spread may be defined by the host exchange (also referred to asexchange-defined spread) or may be a synthetic or user-defined spread.An exchange defined spread is a spread that is listed and priced by ahost exchange, where the host exchange matches orders for the spreadagainst contra orders for the spread in an order book for the spread.Synthetic spreads refer to a spread that is defined by the trader. In asynthetic spread, the trader identifies each leg of a spread andadministers orders for each leg to carry out a trading strategy for thespread.

A spread may be inter-commodity or intra-commodity. Types of spreadsinclude butterfly spreads, bear spreads, bull spreads, calendar spreads,crack spreads, horizontal spreads, vertical spreads, basis, bundles,packs, strips, straddles, strangles, ratio spreads and combinationsthereof. For example, a vertical spread may be a bear spread with a saleof a tradable object such as a strike call, and a purchase of thetradable object. A spread may include multiple types of tradableobjects, including, stocks, bonds, equities, commodities, futureproducts, options, currencies, indexes, warrants, funds, repos and thelike. For example, a butterfly spread may include future products havingthree underlying tradable objects. A calendar spread is the simultaneouspurchase of a futures product for a tradable object and the sale of afutures product for the tradable object for a different contract month.

A tradable object includes a quantity of an item that can be traded,swapped of otherwise exchanged at a price. Tradable objects include, butare not limited to, all types of traded events, goods, wares and/orfinancial product such as stocks, bonds, options, futures, commodities,currencies, repos, indexes, warrants, funds, derivatives thereof,collections thereof and combinations thereof. The tradable object may be“real,” such as products that are listed by an exchange for trading. Atradable object may be “synthetic,” such as a combination of realproducts created by the trader.

The client device may have a trading tool that is configured toautomatically facilitate fast and accurate order entry and execute atrading strategy for the trader. The trading tool compiles theinformation from the host exchange, and facilitates sending orders toone or more host exchanges. For instance, using data from an exchange orsome other reference condition, a trading tool calculates one or moreorder parameters, such as order price and order quantity, andautomatically sends order having the parameters to the host exchange.The trading tool may also compile and arrange the information from oneor more host exchanges in an intuitive manner to allow the trader tovisualize the market and to make a fast and accurate determination forsending an order to the host exchange.

An example of a trading tool is Autospreader® of Trading TechnologiesInternational, Inc., Chicago, Ill. The Autospreader assists a trader inexecuting a spread trading strategy. Legs or outrights of a spread maybe chosen, a relationship between legs defined, and a targeted spreadprice and quantity identified. The Autospreader may place an order forone of the legs based on an inside market for another leg of the spreadto achieve (or attempt to achieve) the desired spread price. TheAutospreader is also available as an add-on tool available withX_TRADER® Pro™, which is a trading application also available fromTrading Technologies International, Inc. An example of an automaticspread trading tool is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,325 titled“System and Method for Performing Automatic Spread Trading,” thecontents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.

The spread trading tool may administer one or more orders for each legof a spread to assist a trader to obtain a desired target for thespread. In an example, a trader may enter parameters of a spread andselect a target price for a spread. An order in one of the legs isentered in one leg of the spread (e.g., a working order) based on atleast an inside market for another leg of the spread (e.g. a hedge oroffset order). As the inside market changes for the hedge, the workingorder may be re-priced to achieve the targeted price for the syntheticspread. The working order may be re-priced by submitting a changerequest to the host exchange for the tradable object where the changerequest defines a new price for the working order. Additionally or inthe alternative, a cancel/replace request could be submitted to the hostexchange for the working order.

The working order may be filled in part or in whole according to avolume of a contra order matched against the working order. When theworking order is filled completely, an order may be sent at the insidemarket of the hedge. When the working order is partially filled, anorder may be sent at the inside market of the hedge according to theparameters set by the trader and/or the trading strategy of the trader.In addition, all or part of the hedge order also may be sent outside ofthe inside market for the hedge according to the parameters set by thetrader and/or the trading strategy of the trader.

The hedge order, since at the inside market, may be filled immediately,at least in part. That is, if the price level for the inside market forthe hedge order is unchanged from when the working order was received,the hedge order may be filled when it is received for the quantityavailable at the inside market. A portion of the hedge order thatexceeds the quantity available at the inside market may not be filled.In addition, if the inside market has moved, the hedge order may not befilled, at least not immediately. The trader may be considered to belegged when at least a portion of the hedge order did not get filled.

Working orders may be placed in one or more legs of a spread. Forexample, a spread trading tool may place a working order in each leg ofthe synthetic spread. So that the trader does not get double-filledwhere each working order is filled and a corresponding hedge order foreach filled working order is submitted, the spread trading tool maycancel all or some working orders upon detecting that one of the workingorders was filled, at least partially. Accordingly, only thecorresponding hedge order may be sent.

The working orders are often reported, tracked, and otherwise recordedaccording to the outright order itself and not as part of a spreadtrading strategy. In addition, fills of the working order and the hedgeorders are also often tracked and otherwise recorded as a trade for theoutright and not as a trade that is part of a spread trading strategy.Orders and synthetic spreads often exist in states that do not have ananalog to states used for orders and fills for outright tradableobjects. For example, a synthetic spread may have a working order thatis not completely filled, such as where a hedge order is not submitted.In addition, a synthetic spread may be considered legged where a hedgeorder is submitted but not filled, either completely or partially.Because the synthetic spreads are made up of component parts (i.e.,working and hedge orders), other trading tools may be used to manipulatethe component. In addition, because the synthetic spread is not managedas a whole order, other tools may not be useful to the trader toadminister a spread trading strategy.

Accordingly, tools to improve assistance for a trader to employsynthetic spread trading strategies are desirable.

SUMMARY

Spread trading strategies may include methods, systems, and apparatusesfor representing, managing, reporting, recording, administering,submitting, tracking and otherwise trading synthetic spreads, includingorders for a synthetic spread, orders for components of a syntheticspread, and fills for the components of the spread and the spreaditself.

In an embodiment for managing a position associated with a syntheticspread order, a status of a synthetic spread order is identified aslegged such that the synthetic spread order has at least one child hedgeorder pending at an electronic exchange and in response, A bracket orderis submitted to an electronic exchange for the tradable objectassociated with a filled leg of the synthetic spread. In response toexecution of the bracket order, the child hedge order is cancelled.

While the example embodiments are described herein with reference toillustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should beunderstood that the example embodiments are not limited thereto. Forinstance, it should be understood that the system and methods of thepresent embodiments can be applied by other software applicationsoutside of the trading environment. Other systems, methods, andadvantages of the present embodiments will be or become apparent to onewith skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings anddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,features, and advantages be within the scope of the present invention,and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Synthetic spread trading is described and illustrated via exemplaryembodiments, which are not limited by the accompanying figures. Figureshaving like reference numerals indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplary electronic tradingenvironment in which aspects of spread trading may be employed.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram for another exemplary spread tradingstrategies at multiple electronic exchanges.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplary spread tradingstrategy.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 for an exemplary method forfacilitating synthetic spread trading.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart for an exemplary method for filling andexecuting trades for synthetic spread trading.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram for synthetic spread trading.

FIG. 7 illustrates a spread window display for a synthetic spread andconstituent legs of the synthetic spread.

FIG. 8 shows a spread window display for a synthetic spread window afterchild quoting and child hedge orders have been filled.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a spread window after additional childorders have been filled.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of an order book tool 1000 for asynthetic spread.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an order book tool 1100 for asynthetic spread.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a market grid or market window tool1200 for a synthetic spread.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a Spread configuration window.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Electronic Trading Environments

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic trading environment in whichthe embodiments for spread trading strategies may be employed. Theelectronic trading environment includes a client device 102, a gateway106, an electronic exchange 105, and a router 108. The client device iscoupled to the electronic exchange 104 through one or more devices suchas the gateway 106 for communication of information. Router 108 isconfigured to route messages between the gateway 106 and the electronicexchange 104.

The electronic exchange 104 may list one or more tradable objects fortrading. The electronic exchange 104 includes at least one processor orcentral computer. The electronic exchange is configured to receiveorders from client devices 102 and match the orders against contraorders. An order received from the client device 102 that is notimmediately matched may be stored and arranged in an order book for atradable object. The orders are matched according to a match algorithmfor the tradable object of the order. While not shown in FIG. 1, thetrading system may include other devices for the client site, such asmiddleware and security measures, including firewalls, hubs, securitymanagers, and the like.

The electronic exchange 104 may also distribute information related toorders received at the electronic exchange 104, as well as ordersmatched at the electronic exchange 104. The information may bedistributed or broadcast to one or more subscribing client devices 102.The information may include data representing an inside market,including the lowest sell price (best ask) and the highest buy price(best bid) at a particular point in time. The information also mayinclude market depth, which may include quantities of a tradable objectavailable at the inside market as well as quantities of the tradableobject available at prices away or outside of the inside market, to theextent that such quantities are available.

The quantity available at a price level may be provided in aggregatesums. The electronic exchange 104 may provide a total buy quantity and atotal sell quantity available in the market at a price level in its datafeed. The extent of the market depth available to a trader usuallydepends on the exchange. An amount of market depth provided also may belimited and not include all quantities of a tradable object available.For instance, some electronic exchanges 104 provide market depth for all(or most) price levels, while some electronic exchanges 104 provide amarket depth only for quantities associated with, at, or near the insidemarket, while others provide no market depth. The electronic exchange104 may provide other types of information such as the last traded price(LTP), the last traded quantity (LTQ), and order fill information.Information related to order fills and execution may be referred to asmarket data.

The client device 102 may be one or more mainframe, desktop, notebook,tablet PC, handheld, personal digital assistant, smartphone, server,gateway, combination thereof, or other computing device having one ormore processors or central processing units. The client device 102 alsomay include one or more memory or data storage devices, an inputinterface for receiving data from a communications network, an inputinterface for receiving input signals from one or more input devices,such as a keyboard, a trackball, pen device, microphone, gazingdetection device, a two or three-button mouse for click-based tradingand/or other device for configured to receive input from a user, and anoutput interface for communications with at least one output device(e.g., a monitor). A system bus, or an equivalent, may providecommunications. The client device 102 may be one or more devices such asmultiple work stations or a network of devices.

Memory may include a computer readable medium, including any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to a processor. A computerreadable medium may take forms, including non-volatile media, volatilemedia and transmission media. Non-volatile media may include optical ormagnetic disks, such as storage devices. Volatile media may includedynamic memory, such as main memory, random access memory (“RAM”),dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and the like. Common forms ofcomputer readable media also include floppy disks, flexible disks, harddisks, magnetic tape, punch cards, CD-ROM, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, and any other memory chip or cartridge, or medium fromwhich a computer can read. The processor may have sufficient processingcapability for available market information. In an exemplary embodiment,the client device includes at least one Pentium® class processor and mayoperate using one or more of a Windows® or MAC OS operating system.

The gateway 106 also can also be any type of computing device, such as apersonal computer or faster computing device. The gateway 106 may haveone or more central processing units, memory or data storage devices,input interfaces for receiving data from a communications network, inputinterfaces for receiving input signals from one or more input devices,such as a keyboard, a trackball, pen device, microphone, gazingdetection device, a two or three-button mouse for click-based tradingand/or other device for configured to receive input from a user, and anoutput interface for communications with at least one output device(e.g., a monitor). The gateway 106 may have a Pentium-class processorand may operate under one or more Windows (server or workstation), MACOS operating systems, or other operating system. The gateway 106 alsomay have access to an internal or external database.

The devices herein may be hardware objects, software, or a combinationof hardware and software. The devices may use integrated circuitdevelopment technologies to implement functions and features describedherein and may communicate using electrical, optical, radio frequency orother appropriate signals.

The client device 102 may execute one or more applications. Theapplication may be executed using an operating system of the clientdevice 102. The gateway 106 may also execute one or more gatewayapplications. The gateway applications may be executed under the controlof an operating system of the gateway 106. In addition or alternatively,the one or more application programs of the client device 102 may beexecuted at or performed by the gateway 106, and one or more gatewayapplications may be performed by the client device 102.

One skilled in the art will understand that various electronic tradingenvironments having the same, additional or alternative features asdescribed with respect to FIG. 1. Accordingly, the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 1 represents electronic trading environments having features,such computer programs and/or systems that do not necessarily relate toelectronic trading (e.g., operating systems, gaming systems, and/orother software applications). One skilled in the art of electronictrading systems would be able to implement a suitable electronic tradingenvironment. For the purposes of illustration, some exampleconfigurations are provided to illustrate where the features may bephysically located and how they may be coupled to implement anelectronic trading system. These illustrations are not limiting.

According to one example illustration, the gateway device may be locatedat a client site or integral with the client device 102 and which may beremote from the electronic exchange 104. According to this instance, theclient device 102, the gateway 106, and the router 108 may communicateover a local area network, and the router 108 may communicate with theelectronic exchange 104 over a T1, T3, ISDN, or some other high speedconnection.

In another example illustration, the client device, or portion thereof,may be located proximate to a processor of the electronic exchange 104.For example, a server carrying out or executing one or more features ofthe invention may be co-located with a processor of the electronicexchange 104 (for example, in the building of or associated with theexchange). Accordingly, the client device 102, the gateway 106, and therouter 108 may also communicate over a local area network, and therouter may communicate with the electronic exchange 104 through anotherconnection means besides a T1, T3, or ISDN.

In another example illustration, the gateway may be housed at, or near,a corresponding electronic exchange 104. According to this instance, theclient device may communicate with the gateway over a wide area networkor through the use of a T1, T3, ISDN, or some other high speedconnection.

In another example, the gateway 106 may be located remote from theclient device 102 and remote from the electronic exchange 104. Such anembodiment may be useful in systems that include interconnection ofmultiple trading networks. Thus, in an electronic trading network mighthaving gateway access to an electronic exchange 104, other electronictrading networks may communicate with the trading network through a T1,T3, ISDN, or some other high speed connection.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary electronic trading environment in whichembodiments for spread trading strategies may be employed. Theelectronic trading environment includes a client device 202 coupled withelectronic exchanges 204 and 208. Electronic exchange 204 may beaccessed through gateway 206 and electronic exchange 208 may be accessedthrough gateway 210. Alternatively or in addition, electronic exchanges204 and 208 may be accessed through a combined gateway that providesaccess to multiple electronic exchanges.

Router 212 routes data between gateways 206 and 210 and electronicexchanges 204 and 208. Other devices such as middleware and securitymeasures like firewalls, hubs, security managers, and so on, may also beincluded in the electronic trading environment. In addition, moreelectronic exchanges may be included.

A trader may trade tradable objects listed at, matched at, and/orcleared at a single and/or multiple electronic exchanges 204 and 208.Orders may be sent to one or both electronic exchanges 204 and 208 andmarket information may be received from one or both electronic exchanges204 and 208. For example, market information may be received at clientdevice 202 from both electronic exchanges 204 and 208 and viewablethrough a common visual display of client device 202. As such, price andquantity information of tradable objects at the electronic exchanges 204and 208 may be view simultaneously and proximately.

In another example, a trader can spread trade and/or arbitrage tradetradable objects listed at multiple electronic exchanges 204 and 208.That is, a trader may trade a tradable object at electronic exchange 204and trade another tradable object at electronic exchange 208.

Embodiments for synthetic spread trading may include additionalexchanges, gateways, client devices, routers, or other computers servingvarious functions like message handling and security. In additional,several or multiple networks, like networks shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2,may be linked together to communicatively access one or more electronicexchanges.

Similar to client device 102 of FIG. 1, client device 202 may be anycomputing device such as a personal computer, workstation, desktop,laptop, handheld device, smartphone, personal digital assistant, tabletPC, server, gateway, combinations thereof and other computing deviceshaving one or more processors or central processing units. The clientdevice 202 may be one or more devices such as multiple work stations ora network of devices. The client device 202 also may include one or morememory or data storage devices, an input interface for receiving datafrom a communications network, an input interface for receiving inputsignals from one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, a trackball,pen device, microphone, gazing detection device, a two or three-buttonmouse for click-based trading and/or other device for configured toreceive input from a user, and an output interface for communicationswith at least one output device (e.g., a monitor). A system bus, or anequivalent, may provide communications. Memory may include any computerreadable medium and the processor has sufficient processing power tohandle and process various types of market information. In an exemplaryembodiment, the client device includes at least one Pentium®microprocessor and operates under a Windows operating system.

The market information or other data, such as news, charting data,and/or order-related information from an exchange or other data sourcemay be displayed on the output device of the client device 202, such asa visual display device. In addition or alternatively, the informationcould be provided via the client device, at least in part, via othermeans such as sound. The output device can be any display device, audiodevice, or combination thereof suitable for presenting information. Forexample, the display device may be a CRT-based video display, anLCD-based or a gas plasma-based flat-panel display, a display that showsthree-dimensional images, or some other type of display. The displaydevice may also have audio devices, and/or Braille output devices. Thedisplay device may allow interaction between the user and theinformation. Accordingly, the display device may include a data inputdevice as well.

The user of the client device, (e.g., a trader) may send orders for oneor more tradable objects to an exchange via the client device. An ordermay include instructions or messages to place a new order, cancel anexisting order, change an existing order, query an exchange about ordersor order book for one or more tradable objects, test a connection to, orcommunication with, an exchange, combinations thereof and the like. Thetrader may view the information provided by the exchange, and inresponse send an order appropriate order.

The trader may provide various commands or signals into a client device202 via one or more input devices of the client device 202. For example,a trader may input commands to the client device 202 by typing into akeyboard, manipulation of a mouse or pointing device, viewing a portionof a display device, touching an area of a display device or areacontrolled by a display device, or inputting commands or signals throughsome other input device. A trader may use a mouse device to identify anarea of an output device, click a mouse button to initiate an order fora quantity of a tradable object and cause an order to be sent to one ofthe electronic exchanges 204 and 208. That is, the client device 202preferably generates transaction information in response to the userinput or some other trigger affected by the user input. There are manydifferent types of messages and/or order types that can be submitted,all of which may be considered various types of transaction information.The transaction information may be sent from the client device 202 toone or more host exchanges 208 and 208 over one or more communicationchannels and/or networks.

In an exemplary embodiment, software on client device 202 createsinteractive trading screens on associated display devices. The displaydevices may enable the trader to, among other things, enter and executeorders, obtain market quotes, and monitor positions. A range and qualityof features available on the display device may vary according to theclient device and/or software of the client device. In addition to oralternative to being interactive, the client device could automate atrading application.

While exemplary embodiments may be implemented relative to variousenvironments and applications, exemplary embodiments are described inrelation to a trading application and a trading screen. One skilled inthe art will understand that details of the output device are notnecessary for an understanding of the present invention. One type oftrading tool that may be run by the client device and output device isprovided by a commercially available trading application referred to asX_TRADER® from Trading Technologies International, Inc. of Chicago, Ill.X_TRADER also provides an electronic trading interface, referred to asMD Trader®, in which indicators for working, or pending, orders aredisplayed in association with a static price axis or scale.

The indicators may identify bid and/or ask quantities of orders atcorresponding or associated prices. The indicators may be anything thatillustrates an order, such as one or more numbers, an icon, character,emblem, logo, symbol, box, chart, picture, pointer or other graphicaldisplay indicating an order. Portions of the X_TRADER and the MD Traderstyle display are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,132 for a “ClickBased Trading With Intuitive Grid Display of Market Depth,” U.S. Pat.No. 6,938,011 for a “Click Based Trading with Market Depth Display” U.S.Pat. No. 7,127,424 for a “Click Based Trading With Intuitive GridDisplay of Market Depth and Price Consolidation,” U.S. Pat. No.7,389,268 for “Trading Tools For Electronic Trading,” and U.S. Pat. No.7,228,289 for “A System and Method for Trading and Displaying MarketInformation in an Electronic Trading Environment,” the contents of eachare incorporated fully herein by reference. In addition oralternatively, other trading tools may be used to view market dataand/or to place order. Additionally, the preferred embodiments are notlimited to any particular product that performs translation, storage,and display function.

II. Spread Trading Strategies

In general, a trading strategy involving multiple tradable objectsinvolves a relationship between the multiple tradable objects. Each ofthe tradable objects of the trading strategy may be referred to as a legor outright. One type of trading strategy involving multiple tradableobjects is referred to as a spread.

A spread may be considered to be bought or sold. A spread that is boughtdefines which leg of the spread is bought and/or sold. Similarly, aspread that is sold defines which leg is sold and/or bought. A spreadmay be bought where a first tradable object for leg A is bought, and asecond tradable object for leg B is sold. Selling the spread may includeperforming opposite actions for each leg.

A spread may also identify, or may be based on, a spread ratio betweenlegs of the spread, also be referred to as an order size for the leg.The spread ratio indicates the quantity of each leg in relation to otherlegs of the spread. For example, a spread having legs A and B may definebuying 2 units of leg A and selling 3 units of leg B.

The spread may also have a nomenclature for a sign for the spread. Thesign may indicate whether the leg is to be bought (e.g., the spreadratio is positive) or sold (e.g., the spread ratio is negative) whenbuying the trading strategy. Accordingly, the spread having legs A and Bwhere 2 units of leg A are bought and 3 units of leg B are sold, theratio of leg A would be “2” and the ratio of leg B would be “−3.”

Additionally or alternatively, a spread ratio may be implied orimplicit. That is, the spread ratio for a leg of a trading strategy maynot be explicitly specified, but rather implied or defaulted to be “1”or “−1.”

A spread also may include a multiplier for each leg. The multiplierdefines a price relationship. That is, the multiplier may adjust a priceof a leg for determining the price of the spread. The multiplier may bethe same as the spread ratio. In the example above, the multiplierassociated with leg A may be “2” and the multiplier associated with legB may be “−3,” both of which match the corresponding spread ratio forthe legs. The multiplier associated with one or more legs may bedifferent than the corresponding spread ratios for those legs. Forexample, the values for the multipliers may be selected to convert theprices for the legs into a common currency.

For simplicity, the exemplary embodiments described herein include aspread ratio and multipliers for each leg being the same, unlessotherwise indicated. In addition, the description of the exemplaryembodiments assumes that the signs for the spread ratio and themultipliers for a particular leg are the same and, if not, the sign forthe multiplier is used to determine which side of a spread a leg is on.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram for a trading strategy 310, such as asynthetic spread. Trading strategy 310 includes “N” legs 320, where therelationship between tradable objects 322 for each leg 320 is definedaccording to spread ratio 324 and multiplier 326 associated with eachleg 320.

The tradable objects 322 may be traded, or attempted to be traded,according to the relationship defined by the trading strategy 310. In anexample, the trading strategy 310 is a spread with two legs 320: Leg 1for tradable object A, and Leg 2 for tradable object B. In addition, thespread ratios 324 and multipliers 326 for Legs 1 and 2 are “1” and “4,”respectively. The spread 310 is defined such that when the spread 310 isbought, 1 unit of tradable object A is bought (positive spread ratio,same direction as the spread) and 1 unit of tradable object B is sold(negative spread ratio, opposite direction of the spread). When thedefinition for the spread 310 is such that when the spread 310 is sold,1 unit of tradable object A is sold (positive spread ratio, samedirection as the spread) and 1 unit of tradable object B is bought(negative spread ratio, opposite direction of the spread).

The price, or target price, for the trading strategy 310 may bedetermined according to the definition of the trading strategy. Theprice is considered the sum of price of the tradable object 322multiplied by the multiplier 326 for each of the legs 320 of the tradingstrategy 310, as follows:Strategy Price=Σ_(i=1) ^(N)Mult(i)*Price(i)  Eq. 1

Mult(i) is the multiplier associated with leg i and Price(i) is theprice for the tradable object for leg i. One skilled in the art willalso recognize that the price for a trading strategy may be affected byprice tick rounding and/or pay-up ticks.

The spread may be bought or sold according to relative prices of thelegs of the spread. When tradable object A typically has a price 10greater than tradable object B, a trader may buy the spread whenever thedifference in price between tradable objects A and B is less than 10.Similarly, the trader may sell the spread whenever the difference isgreater than 10.

As an example, a market for one unit of tradable object A at a price of45, and the market for tradable object B has one unit at a price of 40.The current spread price, using Equation 1, would then be(1)(45)+(−1)(40)=5, which is less than the typical spread of 10. Thus,the trader may buy 1 unit of the spread, which results in buying 1 unitof tradable object A at a price of 45 and selling 1 unit of tradableobject B at 40. If the typical price difference is restored, such aswhere price of tradable object A is 42 and the price of tradable objectB is 32, the price of the spread would be 10. If the trader sells 1 unitof the spread to close out the position (that is, sells 1 unit oftradable object A and buys 1 unit of tradable object B), the trader hasmade a profit on the total transaction. While the trader bought tradableobject A at a price of 45 and sold at 42, losing 3, the trader soldtradable object B at a price of 40 and bought at 32, for a profit of 8.Thus, the trader made 5 on the buying and selling of the spread.

The above example is based on sufficient liquidity and stability andthat the tradable objects can be bought and sold at the market price toachieve a desired price for the spread 310. However, more generally, atrader determines a desired price at which to buy or sell a particulartrading strategy and attempts to achieve that desired price by buyingand selling the legs at appropriate prices.

The trader may use an automated spread trading tool for administeringappropriate trades according to the strategy 310. For example, a tradermay enter an order to buy or sell trading strategy 310 at a desiredprice and the automated trading tool may automatically place an order(also referred to as a quoting, or working order) for at least one ofthe tradable objects 322 of the trading strategy 310 to achieve thedesired price for the trading strategy (also referred to as a desiredstrategy price, desired spread price, and/or a target price). The legfor which the order is placed is referred to as the quoting leg. Theother leg corresponding to the quoting leg is referred to as a lean legand/or a hedge leg.

The price that the quoting leg is quoted at, or working at, is based onthe best price that an order could be filled at in the hedge leg, whichis typically at the inside market of the hedge leg. That is, the bestprice is typically the best bid price of the hedge leg when selling andthe best ask price of the hedge leg when buying. The best price in thehedge leg is also known as the leaned on price, lean price, or leanlevel.

As the leaned on price changes, the price for the order in the quotingleg may also change in order to maintain the desired strategy price. Inaddition, the quoting leg may not be changed if changes in the hedge legare within a limit or would result in a change to the quote leg within alimit. When the quoting leg is filled, the automated trading tool maysubmit an order in the hedge leg to complete the strategy, also referredto as an offsetting or hedging order.

The price of a quoted leg may also or alternatively be based on lessthan all of other legs of a spread. The order parameters of an order ina quoted leg may lean on other types of market conditions in the otherlegs such as the last traded price (LTP), the last traded quantity(LTQ), a theoretical value, multiple quantities such as quantitiescloser to the inside market, or some other reference point.

In addition to having a single quoting leg, a trading strategy may bequoted in multiple (or even all) legs of a spread. In such situations,each quoted leg still leans on at least one of the other legs of thespread. When one of the quoted legs is filled, the orders in the otherquoted legs are typically cancelled and appropriate hedge orders areplaced.

A trading strategy with more than two or more legs is known as amulti-leg strategy, a multi-leg spread or multi-leg synthetic spread. Ina multi-leg strategy, multiple sets of hedge prices can be chosen tomaintain the trading strategy for a particular quoted leg. When one legis filled, the price for the leg that was filled, the desired price forthe trading strategy, and the multipliers are known and there are N-1unknowns, corresponding to the remaining N-1 unfilled legs. Thus, in amulti-leg strategy, there are two or more unknowns but only a singleequation (Eq. 1). Current systems utilize different techniques todetermine the hedge prices for the remaining legs of a strategy once oneleg has been filled.

When a quoting leg is filled, but at least one of the hedge legs cannotbe filled, (or filled sufficiently to achieve the desired price of thetrading strategy) the spread may be determined to be legged. The hedgeleg may not be filled because the inside market for the hedge moved awaybefore the hedge order was entered, and/or there may not be sufficientvolume to fill the order at the inside market.

III. Spread Trading Tools

Spread trading tools, such as Autospreader, may be used to view marketinformation for multiple tradable objects and/or to administer a tradingstrategy for multiple objects. The spread trading tools also may be usedto send orders for a synthetic spread in one or more legs (outright orworking orders) of the synthetic spread.

The orders and fills of the orders of the synthetic spread may bemanaged, compiled, recorded, viewed and the like through the spreadtrading tool. However, because each outright order is for a particulartradable object, other trading tools may also be used to manage theoutright order. Trading tools outside of the spread trading tool may notknow or be able to determine whether an outright working order was acomponent of or initiated as part of a synthetic spread tradingstrategy. A lack of a connection between an outright working order and asynthetic spread may cause a trader to track information outside of therealm or domain of the spread trading tool. In addition, other tradingtools may not provide accurate results for the trader. Accordingly,inaccuracies and/or inefficiencies may not have been avoided to obtaindesired data.

The exemplary methods, processes, and apparatuses herein identify andmaintain a relation relationship between a synthetic spread and itsconstituent orders. In addition, states of a synthetic spread aredefined. The working pending orders and hedge orders of a spread areidentified, tracked, and managed as part of a synthetic spread. As aresult, the synthetic spread may be represented and managed as a wholeor as a homogeneous order. Spread trading tools may be used to manage,represent, and view synthetic spreads and their constituents.

In addition, other tools and/or applications, which are typicallyconfigured for managing orders and/or fills for other trading strategiesmay be employed to manage orders and fills of the constituents of asynthetic spread. For example, an order may be tracked and managed withan order descriptor identifier, such as for order management andpost-trade analysis. An example for order tracking and management isprovided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/689,178, titled “Systemand Management and Analysis of Electronic Trading Orders, filed Mar. 21,2007,” which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.

A spread trading tool generates spread data based on information of itsconstituent legs and spread parameters. The spread data is communicatedto or presented to the trader in a visual format, such as in a graphicaluser interface manager (“GUI manager”). The spread data may be displayedin a spread window. In addition, information or data for one or more legof the spread may also be displayed using the GUI. The spread data andthe information or data for each leg may be displayed in the same windowor different windows for the GUI. The user can enter orders in thespread window, and the spread trading tool place orders according to thespread to obtain the desired or target price of the spread.

An example of a spread trading tool is provided in U.S. Pat. No.7,437,325 for “System and Method for Performing Automatic SpreadTrading,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/804,631 for “System andMethod for Estimating a Spread Value,” filed Mar. 19, 2004, U.S. Pat.No. 7,389,264 for “System and Method for Performing Automatic SpreadTrading,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,424,450 for “System and Method for PerformingAutomatic Spread Trading,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/410,759for “Systems and Methods for Multiplier-Adjusted Lean Levels for TradingStrategies,′ filed Mar. 25, 2009, all of which are incorporated fullyherein by reference. In addition or alternatively, other spread tradingtools may be used. Additionally, the preferred embodiments are notlimited to any particular product that performs translation, storage,and display function for a synthetic spread trading.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 for an exemplary method forfacilitating the spread trading. One skilled in the art will understandthat the flowchart 100 provides an illustrative description of spreadtrading. In addition, an embodiment may include more or fewer acts,and/or the acts may occur in one or more orders different from the ordershown in FIG. 1. For example, act 404 for “configure the spread datafeed,” may occur before, simultaneously or substantially simultaneouslyas act 402 “receive one or more market data feeds.”

At act 402, market data feeds are received from one or more exchanges. Amarket data feed generally includes the price, order, and fillinformation for one or more tradable objects. The market data feed mayalso include and/or otherwise identify the inside market for thetradable object, including the highest bid price (HBP) and the lowestask price (LAP) in addition to the current bid and ask prices andquantities in the market at other prices, referred to as “market depth.”Some exchanges provide an infinite market depth, while others provide nomarket depth or only a few prices away from the inside market.

The number of market data feeds received at step 402 may also depend onthe number of tradable objects selected for spread trading by a user orthe number of data feeds provided by an exchange, or the number ofexchanges from which a data feed is received. Some or all of the datafeeds from an exchange may also be received and only those tradableobjects which are part of the spread are traded.

At act 404, the spread data may be uniquely configured or customized.That is, a user may customize, among other things, calculation of spreadprices and spread market depth. A calculation of spread prices andspread market depth may be based on the bids and offers from the actualmarkets for the tradable objects of the legs and the spread settingparameters. The user also may re-configure existing spreads, or the usercan create new spreads to configure by first selecting the underlyingtradable objects (legs) for the spread. The tradable objects may beselected and the spread configured according to spread settingparameters in a configuration window.

At act 406, the spread trading tool may generate the spread data basedon selected market data feeds and the spread setting parameters. Thespread data may include spread prices and spread depth. The spread datamay also include the last traded price (LTP) and/or the last tradedquantity (LTQ), in addition to other items such as open, close,settlement, daily high/low, periodic high, market depth, marketsnapshots, and the like. The spread data may include more or feweritems. The data may be included according to parameters set, identifiedor otherwise selected by the user, limits of the exchange from which themarket data feed came, and the like.

The trader may also customize the information included in the spreaddata feed. The spread data feed may be updated and stored at the clientdevice according to the received market data feeds. The spread data feedmay be continuously updated, periodically updated, continuously andperiodically updated. Generating a spread data may occur on a real-timebasis, or substantially real-time basis, where information that isrelayed from the market is presented to the user as soon as feasible. Inexample, the information is presented within a sufficient or reasonableamount of time to process and display the received information.

Additionally or alternatively, generating the spread data may continueon a periodic time or semi-periodic time basis. For example, the spreaddata may be generated every half-second or portion of a second,according to package communication protocols, traffic conditions,combinations thereof, and the like. In an example, only those valuesthat are displayed in a spread window that change over time are updatedon the display.

At act 408, a spread window is generated and displayed. A window foreach corresponding leg of the spread may also be generated anddisplayed. The spread window may display a spread price and an indicatorfor the total quantity. In addition more or fewer items may bedisplayed, such as the LTP/LTQ.

At act 410, one or more orders for the spread may be entered. The ordersmay be entered for a desired quantity at a target price for the spread.The order may be entered in the spread window. In an example, the orderis entered according to manipulating one or more input devices, such asa mouse device, keyboard, light pen, combinations thereof and the like.Manipulating input device may cause an input indicator such as one ormore cursors to transverse an output display. Using the input device,the cursor may be positioned with respect to the desired quantity andtarget price for the spread. In an example, the desired quantity may bepreset or preselected such that the target price for the spread may bedetermined with the input device.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart for an exemplary method for filling andexecuting trades for synthetic spread trading. Other embodiments may beexecuted in the order shown in FIG. 5 or in other order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order.In addition, some steps may not be implemented to achieve the desiredresult.

In the example, an order for at least one leg of a spread tradingstrategy is working or pending at an exchange, also referred to as aquoting order. The quoting order corresponds to a first tradable objectat an electronic exchange. The quoting order may be matched against acontra order, otherwise referred to as filled or executed. At act 502, afill of the quoting order is detected. That is, the quoting order ismatched against a contra order at the exchange. At act 504, a hedgeorder is determined. The hedge order is to be sent in response todetecting the fill of the quoting order in the first leg of the spreadtrading strategy. The hedge order is generated at 506 and the hedgeorder is sent at act 508. The hedge order may be sent to an electronicexchange where the hedge order is listed and/or traded. The electronicexchange for the hedge order may be the same or different electronicexchange where the first tradable object is listed. Order parameters forthe hedge order, such as a hedge order price, may be determined. Theorder parameters may be determined so that a spread price for the spreadtrading strategy is achieved when the hedge order is filled.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplary system 600 forsynthetic spread trading. The system 600 includes an applicationsprogram interface (“API”) 606, exchanges 604, client devices,communications 602 between the API 606 and client devices, andcommunications 608 between the API 606 and the exchanges 604. Thecommunications 608 between the API 606 and the exchanges 604 may includeinformation such as market data.

The market data may include information for one or more tradableobjects. The API 606 may translate the market data. The market data isgenerally provided in a data format, such as one or more market datafeeds. The market data feed may be communicated between the exchanges604 and trading applications of the client devices. The client devicesmay be configured and arranged as previously described. The system 600includes “T” exchanges and “M” client devices. The system is generallyunlimited in the number of exchanges and client devices.

Client device 612 illustrates a more detailed block diagram. Clientdevice 612 may include several components, including a tradingapplication 610, an automatic spreader 614, and a GUI manager 616. Itshould be understood that fewer or more components may be included. Someof the components which are not shown will be understood to be includedwith client device 612.

The trading application 610 and the automatic spreader 614 may besoftware applications. The trading application 610 and the automaticspreader 614 may be hosted on the client device 612 or other deviceassociated with the client device 612. Although the automatic spreader614 is shown together with the trading application 610, the automaticspreader 614 and the trading application 610 may be the same softwareapplication or separate software applications on the same or differentclient devices 612. The automatic spreader 614 and/or the tradingapplication 610 may be hosted on a server and accessed by the clientdevice 612 over a network.

The GUI manager 616 may be implanted with a software application,hardware, or combination of hardware and software. The GUI manager maybe employed with an input device like a mouse, keyboard, touch screen,and an output device such as monitor. The trading application 610 may beX_TRADER® from Trading Technologies, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. The X_TRADERapplication may incorporate display screens, sometimes referred to asMD_TRADER-style displays that show information, such as market depth orworking orders, in association with an axis or scale of prices orvalues. The invention is not limited, however, to any particular type ofdisplay.

The information or market data may be stored and/or updated. Using someor all of the market data feeds and the spread setting parameters, theautomatic spreader 614 generates the spread data. The market data feedsor contracts for multiple tradable objects may be used to determine datafor the synthetic spread. The spread data may include spread price, andspread market depth. The spread data may also include other items, suchas the last traded price (LTP) and the last traded quantity (LTQ), highprice, low price for a time or period of time and the like.

The spread data may be displayed in a spread window. The spread data maybe displayed during spread generation and/or after spread generation.Synthetic spreads may be established, spread data presented, and toolsprovides for trading synthetic spreads as described in U.S. Pat. No.7,437,325, titled “System and Method for Performing Automatic SpreadTrading,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

IV. Spread Displays

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a spread window 700 for a spreadstrategy having two legs. The first leg is displayed in window 702 andthe second leg is displayed in window 704. The first leg window 702corresponds to a tradable object for an FJUN10 contract, and the secondleg window 704 corresponds to an FDEC10 contract. FIG. 7 illustrates aspread window 700 and two leg windows 702 and 704 (a two-leg spread) forsake of simplicity and clarity. The number of windows displayed maydepend on the number of legs in the spread and/or the user'spreferences. Any number of legs of the spread may be possible.

The spread window 700 shows an inside market and the market depth of thegenerated spread data feed. The inside market includes the best bid, orhighest bid price, and the best ask, or lowest sale price for thetradable object. The windows for the legs 702 and 704 also show theinside market for the respective tradable object. Each window 700, 702,and 704 includes a column for buy orders and a column for sell orders inthe market. Columns 706, 708, and 710 include buy orders and columns712, 714, and 716 include the ask order.

Indicators may be displayed in each of the columns 706, 708, 710, 712,714, 716 to indicate orders for the tradable object. For example, anindicator may be provided in column 706 to indicate a buy order in themarket for the tradable object of the first leg. Similarly, an indicatormay be provided in column 714 to indicate a buy order for the secondtradable object in the market for the tradable object of the second leg.The indicators may be graphic, iconic, numeric or any other anyrepresentation of for an order.

The windows 700, 702, and 704 each have a respective column 718, 720,and 722 with price levels. The price levels may be aligned along anaxis. Each axis may be linear or curvilinear and may be static,substantially static or dynamic. That is, the price level may notchange, may change in response to an automatically generatedinstruction, may change in response to a user instructions and/orsettings, may change in response to market data or changes, may changein response to any combination of automatic instructions, userinstructions and/or setting, market data and the like.

The indicators may be located along a price level along price columns718, 720, and 722. The location of the indicator with respect to theprice column 718, 720 and 722 may represent a price for the ordercorresponding to the indicator. In an example, an indicator for “2”displayed in column 708 at 0.97 represents an order for a quantity of 2at a price of 0.97 in the market for the tradable object of the secondleg of the spread trading strategy.

Columns 724, 726, and 728 provide indicators for working orders for theuser. In an example, an indicator is displayed in one of the in columns724, 726, and 728 at a price level of the corresponding price column718, 720, and 722 to display an order for quantity of the tradableobject at the price corresponding to the price level.

Columns 730, 732, and 734 display indicators representing other items ordata. For example, indicators may represent a last trade quantity and/orlast traded price for the tradable object. For example, a “17” displayedin column 732 at a price level of 0.97 represents the last traded orderfor a quantity of 17 at a price of 0.97 of the tradable object of thefirst leg of the spread trading strategy.

The windows 700, 702, and 704 may be display one or more icons or fieldsof interest to the user to tailor to personal preferences and/orinterests. Some icons or items that are displayed or hidden by the userinclude a system clock that shows the current time.

In addition, icons or buttons may be displayed to represent functions.The icons or buttons may be selected to perform one or morecorresponding functions. For example, a Stop Market (SM) button and/or aStop Limit (SL) button may be displayed. The button may be selected toenable stop limit and stop market orders, respectively. A “Del All”button also may be provided to delete bids and offers from the market. A“Del Bids” and/or “Del Asks” button may be selected to delete allbids/asks from the market. Instead of displaying “Bids” or “Asks,” eachbutton may include an additional indicator representing a total numberof bids/asks in the market to be deleted. More or fewer buttons may beincluded.

V. Order Relationships and Identification

A parent child relationship for the synthetic spread trading strategymay be defined. In an example, a synthetic spread order may berepresented by, or associated with, one or more parent orders. Theoutright orders in each leg of the synthetic spread order may berepresented by, or associated with, child orders. That is, each outrightquoting order may be represented by one or more child quoting orders,and resulting hedge orders may be represented by one or more child hedgeorders. Both the child quoting orders and child hedge orders areassociated with one of the parent orders. A parent order may havemultiple child orders. The number of parent order may depend on thenumber of legs of the synthetic spread, the number of quoting legs ofthe synthetic spread, user preferences, combinations thereof and thelike.

A parent order represents one lot of a synthetic order. Thecorresponding children orders of the parent order represent nativeorders that comprise the one lot parent order. In an example, the parentorder defines a synthetic spread having 2 legs at a 1:1 ratio. The userenters a one lot order for the spread and quotes only the first leg.Accordingly, there is one parent order, one child order being quoted forthe first leg, and a child order for the hedge for the second leg.

In another example, shown in Table 1 below, the synthetic spread has 2legs having a 3:2 ratio. The user enters a 2 lot order for the spread,and quotes one leg.

TABLE I Leg A Leg B Synthetic Parent Order #1 (POID = 100) Quoting Order#1 (COID = 2000) Hedge Order #1 (COID = 2003) Quoting Order #2 (COID =2001) Hedge Order #2 (COID = 2004) Quoting Order #3 (COID = 2002)Synthetic Parent Order #2 (POID = 101) Quoting Order #1 (COID = 2005)Hedge Order #1 (COID = 2008) Quoting Order #2 (COID = 2006) Hedge Order#2 (COID = 2009) Quoting Order #3 (COID = 2007)

Accordingly, because each parent order represents a single lot for thesynthetic spread order, there are two parent orders, one for each lot ofthe 2-lot synthetic spread order. Each parent order may be identified bya Parent Order Identification (“POID”) and each child order may beidentified by a Child Order Identification (“COID”).

Table I shows that each parent order may be associated with 5corresponding child orders, where each of the child order is for a 1-lotorder. Parent order POID 100 has child orders 2000-2004, including 3child quoting orders COID 2000-2002 in the first leg of the syntheticspread and two child hedge orders COID 2003 and 2004 in the second orhedge leg of the synthetic spread. Similarly, parent order POID 101 haschild orders COID 2005-2009, where COID 2005-2007 are child quotingorders in the first leg and child hedge orders COID 2008 and 2009 arehedge orders in the second or hedge leg.

One or more orders representing child quoting orders COID 2000-2002 maybe sent to an exchange for the tradable object of the first leg of thesynthetic spread. Although Table I shows multiple child orders, a singlequoting order for multiple lots may be sent for the tradable object ofthe first leg, where the quoting order represents all or some of thechild quoting orders COID 2000-2002 and 2005-2007. That is, outrightorders submitted to the exchange for execution of a leg of the spreadmay be for a quantity greater than a 1 lot order, where the outrightorder represents more than one child order. In the above example, parentorder POID 100 has child orders 2000-2004, and parent order 101 haschild orders 2005-2009. All or part of the child quoting orders may becombined into a single quoting order. In addition, all or part of thechild hedge orders may be combined into a single hedge order, or may becombined into multiple hedge orders according to matching of quantitiesof the quoting order associated with or represented by the child quotingorders.

In the above example, the three quoting orders COID 2000-2002 may becombined into a single child quoting order with a quantity of 3, and thetwo potential hedge orders COID 2003 and 2004 may be combined into asingle hedge order with a quantity of 2. In addition, a single quotingorder for a quantity of 6 may be submitted for the first leg, where thequoting order represents each of the child quoting orders for bothparent orders

One or more hedge orders for child hedge orders COID 2003 and 2004 maybe submitted for the tradable object of the second leg after some orpart of the quoting order representing one or more of the child quotingorders have been filled/executed. That is, a hedge orders may besubmitted for execution based on execution of the quoting orders. Inaddition, the child hedge orders of the hedge order may be associatedwith the parent order, and/or child quoting orders, when the hedge orderis submitted for execution. For example, where a single quoting orderwith a quantity of 3 was partially filled (e.g. filled at a quantity of2), a single hedge order with a quantity less than the total quantityfor the hedge (e.g. a 1 lot), may be submitted at the inside market forthe hedge. In another example, when a quoting order representing childquoting orders is submitted and a portion the child quoting is filledrepresenting child quoting orders 2000-2002, a hedge order for aquantity of 2 representing child hedge orders 2003 and 2004 issubmitted. In addition, child hedge orders 2003 and 2004 are associatedwith parent order POID 100.

The parent order and child order ID's (POID and COID, respectively)illustrate a desired behavior for tracking, recording and reportingsynthetic spread orders. A COID may identify or associate (or may beused to identify or associate) a parent order with the child order ofthe COID. Similarly, a POID may identify or associate (or may be used toidentify or associate) child orders with the parent order of the POID.In addition, the COID may identify or associate (or may be used toidentify or associate) child orders of a parent order.

Table I illustrates a how orders for a synthetic spread, and itsconstituent orders may be identified and related. Other representationsof the synthetic spreads may be possible. In addition, although Table Iillustrates multiple child orders of each parent, each child order maybe separate and distinct orders, may be a combined order, or some may becombined while other child orders may be separate and distinct.

The order identifiers (POID and COID) may take any format. The orderidentifier may provide a defined descriptor for marking orders. Theorder identifiers may have a format that identifies each parent orderand each child order of the parent. The format may distinguish parentand child orders of a synthetic order from parent and child of othersynthetic spread orders. The orders may have a format that identifieseach parent of a multiple lot synthetic order and distinguishes eachparent order from other parent orders. The identifiers may have a formatthat is automatically determined, manually determined, such as inaccordance with user setting and/or preferences, or a combination ofautomatically and manually determined. The identifier for an order maybe generated when, or before an order is entered and/or submitted to forexecution, such as to an exchange.

The order identifiers may define a purpose of the order. The orderidentifiers may also or alternatively identify an application/strategyfrom which the order originated or to which the order pertains. Forexample, an order identifier may define the order as a hedge order thatwas originated by an auto-spreader or similar tool. An order identifieralso may represent the status of the order or corresponding trade. Forexample, an order identifier may represent an order that was filled andinitiated with a hedge order, as well as the corresponding tradableobject and price for the order.

Order identifiers may include a fill key which may associate a hedgeorder with the fill of a corresponding order that triggered the hedgeorder. Additional spread data may be identified, including a desiredprice for a synthetic spread, identification of other legs, time theorder was placed, time the order was filled. Additional, or feweridentifiers and formats could also be used as these parameters areprovided as examples. Order identifiers may be provided as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/689,178, filed Mar. 21, 2007, titled“System and Method for Management and Analysis of Electronic TradeOrders,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

VI. States of Orders

Different states of a parent order may be defined. The states of theparent order include working, pending, legged, or filled. The state maybe determined according to the status of child orders associated with aparent order. The state may also be determined according to otherfactors, such as user preferences and/or settings. The state of theparent order also may be identified numerically.

For a spread order with multiple quantities and having multiple parentorders, a number for each state may identify the quantity of the orderin the corresponding state. For example, for a spread order for a 3-lotor a quantity of 3, all 3 of the synthetic spread order may be initiallyworking. Accordingly, the state of the synthetic spread may be 3 workingorders.

Later, the spread order may have 1 lot working, 1 lot pending, and 1 lotthat is filled. Accordingly, the state of the synthetic spread orderwill be 3 working orders, 1 pending order, and 1 filled order.

A parent order may be considered working when 1) the child quotingorders of the parent order have been sent to be filled, such as to anexchange, and none of the child quoting orders have been filled. Aparent order may remain working when one or more child quoting childorders may have been deleted but the parent order may be completely orsubstantially filled as defined for the synthetic spread. For example,there are no orders that have been cancelled that would prevent theparent order to be filled according to a ratio for the synthetic spread.

A parent order may remain working if some of the constituent childorders have been deleted, but the parent order may yet be completed orfilled. For example, a parent order may be filled when at least two legsof the synthetic spread are being quoted. In general, the parent ordermay be working when at least one child quoting order of the parent orderis working.

In an example, a parent order POID 100 having 5 child orders, including3 child quoting orders, and 2 hedge orders as shown in Table I, isworking when the three child quoting orders are working. When thesynthetic order is for multiple lots (i.e. the synthetic order is for 2lots), the synthetic order will have two parent orders, one for each lotof the synthetic order. The parent orders will both be working when thequoting orders for both parent orders are working and none of the parentorder have been filled or deleted where it would not be possible to fillthe parent order. Accordingly, a synthetic order for n-lots of a spreadmay generate n parent orders. In an embodiment, all the child quotingorders may be considered working when a quoting order for a quantity of6 has been submitted (each child quoting order 2000-2002 and 2005-2007),and has not been filled, either partially or fully.

In another example, a parent order may have 2 child orders, including achild quoting order for a quantity of 3 in the first leg, and apotential hedge order for a quantity of 2 for the second leg. The parentorder may be considered working when the child quoting orders isworking. When the synthetic order is for multiple lots (i.e. thesynthetic order is for 2 lots), the synthetic order may also berepresented with a single parent order at a quantity of 1, where theparent order is working when the quoting order for the parent order isworking.

A parent order may be considered filled when all child orders of theparent order have been filled. More particularly, the parent order isconsidered filled when the child quoting orders and the child hedgeorders of the parent have both been filled/executed in accordance withquantities specified for the spread.

A parent order may be considered pending when at least one of the childquoting orders of the parent has been filled, when at least one of itschild quoting orders is working in the market as a managed order, andwhen none of the child hedge orders have been legged or have beendeleted. In an example when one or more child orders have been deleted,such as through an outright deletion of the child order, the parentorder may be considered pending when the parent order may be filled,such as according to the spread ratio. If it is not possible to fill theparent order, the parent order may be cancelled or otherwise notconsidered part of a synthetic spread.

A parent order may be considered legged when at least one order of theparent order is not filled, or cannot be filled. For example, a marketfor a hedge leg of the spread may have moved away before the order wasplaced, entered, or before the order could otherwise be filled accordingto the spread. The child hedge order that is not yet filled, may beconsidered legged. A parent order may be legged where one of the childhedge orders was deleted, such as through an outright deletion. A childquoting order may be considered legged if the child quoting orderchanged from a managed order to an unmanaged order. For example, a userpreference may be selected to change a child quoting order from managedto unmanaged for hedge round functionality.

In an example shown in Table II below, a synthetic spread order for2-lots of a two-leg spread having a 3:2 ratio has been placed. Inaddition, the synthetic spread order in Table II is set up to be quotedin both legs of the spread. The synthetic spread order initially may berepresented by two parent orders, each having 10 child orders, includingthree child quoting orders in the first leg and two correspondingpotential child hedge orders for the second leg for each parent and twoquoting orders in the second leg and three corresponding hedge ordersfor the first leg for each parent. Although the synthetic spread ordermay be represented by multiple spread orders each for a single lot, thesynthetic spread order also may be represented less parent orders, whereeach order is for multiple lots or for a quantity greater than 1.

TABLE II Leg A Leg B Synthetic Parent Order #1 (POID = 100) QuotingOrder #1 (COID = 2000) Hedge Order #1 (COID = 2003) Quoting Order #2(COID = 2001) Hedge Order #2 (COID = 2004) Quoting Order #3 (COID =2002) Hedge Order #1 (COID = 2005) Quoting Order #1 (COID = 2008) HedgeOrder #2 (COID = 2006) Quoting Order #2 (COID = 2009) Hedge Order #3(COID = 2007) Synthetic Parent Order #2 (POID = 101) Quoting Order #1(COID = 2010) Hedge Order #1 (COID = 2013) Quoting Order #2 (COID =2011) Hedge Order #2 (COID = 2014) Quoting Order #3 (COID = 2012) HedgeOrder #1 (COID = 2015) Quoting Order #1 (COID = 2018) Hedge Order #2(COID = 2016) Quoting Order #2 (COID = 2019) Hedge Order #3 (COID =2017)

In the initial state, when the order for the synthetic spread is placedand no orders have been filled/executed, SO_(W)=2, SO_(P)=0, SO_(L)=0,and SO_(F)=0, where:

-   -   SO_(W)=Number of Working Parent Orders,    -   SO_(P)=Number of Pending Parent Orders,    -   SO_(L)=Number of Legged Parent Orders, and    -   SO_(F)=Number of Filled Parent Orders

Referring to FIG. 7, when the order for the synthetic spread is enteredor otherwise submitted for trading, a status indicator 736 may bepositioned and/or displayed in column 724 to indicate the status of thesynthetic order. The selection of the price and entry of the order mayresult in response to numerous inputs. The order may be enteredaccording to a selection of a quantity and a price along the pricecolumn 718. The order also may be entered according to selecting a pricealong the price column where a quantity is preselected or predetermined.The selection of the price may occur in response to one or more clicksor other manipulation or activation of an input device to send aninstruction to send at a price.

The status indicator 736 may be positioned at a price level along theprice column 718 of the spread window 700 corresponding to a price ofthe order. The status indicator 736 may be any indicator, such asnumerical, iconic, graphic, color coded or combinations thereof toidentify the status of the order. For example, a status indicator for alegged synthetic spread order or a legged portion of the syntheticspread order may be numerically displayed in a red colored font to showthe quantity of the synthetic spread order that is legged.

The status indicator 736 may represent one or more of the trader'sorders. The status indicator 736 also may represent the state of thetrader's order, including how many orders were placed, how many ordersare working, how many orders have been filled, how many orders arepending, how many orders have been legged, whether the order is to buyor to sell, and/or combinations thereof. In the example shown in FIG. 7,the status indicator 736 shows 2 working orders according to thedesignation of “2” proximate the designation “W.” In addition, thestatus indicator 736 shows that no orders of the synthetic spread havebeen filled or bought according to the designation “0” proximate thedesignation “B.” Accordingly, two orders for the synthetic spread areworking and no orders have been filled, or bought, and no orders havebeen legged or are pending.

FIG. 7 further shows status indicator 738 in the legs of the spread. Thestatus indicator 738 may be similar to status indicator 736 and mayrepresent one or more orders for the corresponding tradable object ofthe leg. A status indicator 738 may be any indicator, including aniconic indicator, a graphic indicator, a numeric indicator or the liketo represent an order in a leg of the spread. The status indicator 738may also represent outright orders in each leg, or orders that areassociated with a spread. The status indicator 738 may represent one ormore of the trader's orders. The status indicator 738 also may representthe state of the order, including how many orders were placed, how manyorders are working, how many orders have been filled, how many ordersare pending, how many orders have been legged, whether the order is tobuy or to sell, and/or combinations thereof.

In FIG. 7, a status indicator 738 is located at 1.06, 1.02, and 0.97 ofthe price column 720 in the first leg window 702 and at 1.05 and 1.02 ofthe price column 722 of the second leg window 704. The leg window maydisplay a designation for the status of the order(s) represented by thestatus indicator 738, such as how much of an order is filled (e.g.,bought=“B”, sold=“S”), working (“W”), pending (“P”), and/or legged(“L”).

FIG. 7 further shows leg status indicators 740. Each leg statusindicator identifies an order for a tradable object associated with theleg of the synthetic spread. In the example shown in FIG. 7, a legstatus indicator is located at 0.97 of the first leg 702 of thesynthetic spread and 1.05 of the second leg 704 of the synthetic spread.The leg status indicator identifies that one or more orders representedby the status indicator 738 are associated with the synthetic spread.

As discussed for the example provided in Table II, FIG. 7 shows twosynthetic spread orders were placed at −0.030. Because the syntheticspread is defined as a 3:2 ratio, a quoting order in the first leg for aquantity of 6, representing the 6 child quoting orders of the first leg,was submitted at a price of 0.97 for the tradable object of the firstleg 702. In addition, a quoting order in the second leg for a quantityof 4, representing the 4 quoting orders of the second leg, weresubmitted at a price of 1.05 for the tradable object of the second leg.

FIG. 8 shows an example after a portion of the quoting order has beenfilled and at least one corresponding hedge order has been filled. Moreparticularly, a portion of the quoting order in the first leg Arepresenting three child quoting orders COID 2000-2002 in the first legA have been filled, and a hedge order representing child hedge orderCOID 2003 in the second leg B has also been submitted and filled. Inaddition, because the child quoting orders COID 2000-2002 have beenfilled, child quoting orders COID 2008 and 2009 have been deleted orcancelled, and the corresponding a hedge order for child hedge ordersCOID 2005-2007 is not sent or submitted for execution. The quoting orderfor child quoting orders COID 2010-2012, 2018 and 2019 for the secondparent order POID 101 is working and has not been filled/executed.Parent order POID 100 is considered legged and parent order POID 101 isworking. Therefore, SO_(W)=1, SO_(P)=0, SO_(L)=1, and SO_(F)=0.

As such, the status indicators 736 and 738 in FIG. 8 have been modifiedover the status indicators in FIG. 7 to reflect the changes. Moreparticularly, the status indicator 736 at −0.030 for the syntheticspread order has been modified to reflect that one of the initial ordersis working (“W 1”), the other order is legged (“L 1”), and no ordershave been filled/executed (“B 0”) and no orders are pending. Inaddition, the status indicators 738 associated with the synthetic spreadin each leg 702 and 704 also reflect the changes. The status indicator738 at 0.97 in the first leg 702 reflects that three orders are working(“W 3”), and three orders have been bought (“B 3”). The status indicator738 at 1.05 in the second leg 704 represents the child quoting COID 2018and 2019, and reflects that zero order have been sold (“S 0”) and twoorders are working (“W 2”). In addition, a status indicator 738 has beenpositioned at 1.00 to represent that one of the hedge orders has beensold (“S 1”) and one of the hedge orders remains working (“W 1”).

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the spread window display after furtherchild orders have been filled. More particularly, the child quotingorders COID 2010 and 2011 have been filled, and an order for child hedgeorder COID 2013 has been submitted for the tradable object of leg B inthe synthetic spread. The order identification of the child hedge orderCOID 2013 allows child hedge order COID 213 to remain associated withparent order POID 101. Parent order POID 101 has child quoting ordersCOID 2010, 2011 and 2013 that have been filled/executed. In addition,child quoting order COID 2018 has been deleted and child hedge ordersCOID 2015 and 2016 will not be sent. Accordingly, as above, parent orderPOID 100 is legged, and parent order POID 101 is now pending whereSO_(W)=0, SO_(P)=1, SO_(L)=1, and SO_(F)=0.

As such, the indicators 738 in FIG. 9 represent the current status ofthe synthetic spread. The status indicator 736 at −0.030 for thesynthetic spread order has been modified to reflect that one of theinitial orders is pending (“P 1”), the other order for the spreadremained legged (“L 1”), and no orders have been filled/executed (“B0”). The status indicator 738 at 0.97 in the first leg 702 reflects thatone order is working (“W 1”), and five orders have been bought (“B 5”).The status indicator 738 at 1.05 in the second leg 704 represent theremaining child quoting order COID 2019 and now reflects that zeroorders have been sold (“S 0”) and 1 order is working (“W 1”). Inaddition, the status indicator 738 at 1.00 represents that another hedgeorders has been sold (“S 2”) and one of the hedge orders remains working(“W 1”).

When the orders for the synthetic spread have been filled where that theparent orders of the synthetic spread are not pending and not legged,the indicators 736 and 738 may be removed. Accordingly, when thesynthetic spread order is filled such that indicators 736 and 738 maynot be displayed in windows 700, 702 and 704.

A synthetic spread order may have a defined lifetime or a status forvarious stages during its lifetime. The synthetic spread order may bemaintained, managed, reported and otherwise administered as anintegrated tradable object. In general, the lifetime of the syntheticspread order will end when all orders of the spread have been filled,child orders have been deleted, or when the synthetic spread order hasbeen deleted.

The parent-child relationship and the states of the parent and childorders may be used to track, represent, manage, report, record, andotherwise administer trading for synthetic spreads, including orders fora spread, orders for components of a spread, and fills for the spreadand its components. For example, a synthetic spread with filled quotingorders from multiple legs is identified, tracked and managed. Tools,such as the Autospreader tool, may be used to maintain and update thestates of the parent and orders and also may be used to maintain andupdate the counts for SO_(W), SO_(P), SO_(L) 1, and SO_(F) as described.The tools may maintain and update the counts while the synthetic orderexists. For example, an outright fill that completes a synthetic spreadorder may be counted and reported as a fill of the synthetic spreadorder. After the synthetic spread order is filled, additional oralternative tools may be used to maintain, report, process and otheradminister trading. In addition, tools may be used before a syntheticspread order is placed or submitted for execution.

After it is entered, the synthetic spread may be reported as a singleand/or integrated tradable object. In addition, a submitted order (i.e.working or pending) synthetic spread may also be managed by tools otherthan the spread tool that launched the synthetic spread.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of an order book tool 1000 for asynthetic spread. The order book tool 1000 illustrates a syntheticspread entry 1002 corresponding to an order for a synthetic spread thathas been submitted and is currently working or pending, such as in anorder book at an exchange. The order book tool 1000 may be used topresent information about pending or working orders. The orders may bethe trader's order, and/or orders for multiple traders. The order booktool 1000 may display one or more parameters for one or more orders. Thenumber and type of parameters displayed in the order book tool mayuser-selectable and be configured according to user preferences. Theorder book tool 1000 may display a status of the order, whether theorder is a buy or sell, the quantity, the tradable object name, productname or product type, type of tradable object or contract, price of theorder, a corresponding stop price, type of order, TIF, restrictions, anexecuted quantity and working quantity of the order, an associatedaccount no. and an order number.

The order book tool 1000 may include entries for one or more syntheticspreads 1002 and outright orders 1004. The synthetic spread order entry1002 may be reported or presented in the order book tool as anintegrated order. That is, even though multiple orders may be presentedor submitted for execution, the synthetic spread order may be reportedas a single order, or an aggregate of the constituent orders for thesynthetic spread. Accordingly, the order book 1000 may present orderentries for a synthetic spread order 1002 as an integrated tradableobject as well as outright orders 1004. The synthetic spread order entry1004 indicates that entry is for a spread by designating “Autospread”under a product column whereas the outright orders designate the product“ES.” Of course, one skilled in the art will recognize that otherdesignations may be possible to distinguish synthetic spread orders fromoutright orders for a tradable object.

Because the synthetic spread order entry 1002 is reportable a tradableobject, such as in an order book tool or the like, the tool may be usedto manage the synthetic spread order, and its constituent parent andchild orders. The synthetic spread order entry 1002 may be selected, andfunctions performed on the corresponding synthetic spread order. Forexample, the synthetic spread order may be deleted or cancelled, aquantity of the synthetic spread order may be changed to be decreased orincreased, a price of the synthetic spread order may be decreased orincreased and the like. When a function is selected to be performed on asynthetic spread order, corresponding or constituent orders of thesynthetic spread order will managed according to the function performedon the synthetic spread order, as described further. For example, inresponse to deleting a synthetic spread with no filled or executed childorders, constituent child orders of the deleted synthetic spread ordermay be deleted.

Other parameters of the synthetic spread order also may be changed. Anorder such as the synthetic spread order entry 1002 may be changed byselecting the entry 1002 and changing a selected or designated parameterof the order. The parameter may be changed by selecting a correspondingtool or function of a tool bar 1006. For example, to delete all ordersin the order book, a user may select a “Delete All” button on the toolbar 1006. The tool bar may have buttons for designated functions.Additionally or alternatively, a drop down menu may be provided fromwhich one or more functions may be selected.

A filled synthetic spread order may be reported and managed in a fillwindow tool 1100. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an order book tool1100 for a synthetic spread. The fill window tool 1100 may be used topresent information about and to manage filled orders. The filled ordersmay be the trader's order, and/or orders for multiple traders. The fillwindow tool 1100 may display one or more parameters for one or morefilled orders. The number and type of parameters displayed in the fillwindow tool may user-selectable and be configured according to userpreferences. The fill window tool 1100 may display a status the time ofa fill, the exchange where an order was filled, a quantity filled, priceof the filled order, the product and contract of the filled order, anaccount number, the exchange's time of the fill, an order number, thedate of the filled order, and the time the order was placed or receivedby the exchange.

A filled synthetic spread order 1102 may be reported or included in thefill window tool 1100 as an integrated order. Filled parent orders of afilled synthetic spread order may be combined and reported in one fillor may be independently displayed as filled orders. In addition, filledchild orders of the filled synthetic spread may also be reported orincluded in the fill window tool 1100. Even though multiple orders mayhave been filled to complete the synthetic spread order, the syntheticspread order may be reported as a fill for a single order, a singlefill, or an aggregate of the constituent orders for the syntheticspread. Accordingly, the fill window tool 1100 may include entries for asynthetic spread order 1102 as an integrated tradable object as well asoutright orders 1104. The synthetic spread order entry 1102 indicatesthat entry is for a spread by designating “Autospread” under a productcolumn whereas the outright orders designate the product “ES.” Ofcourse, one skilled in the art will recognize that other designationsmay be possible to distinguish synthetic spread orders from outrightorders for a tradable object.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a market grid or market window tool1200 for a synthetic spread. The market grid window 1200 may include asynthetic spread entry 1202 for reporting information about thesynthetic spread and for launching orders for the synthetic spreadorders for execution. Although multiple orders may be submitted as aresult of submission of a synthetic spread order, the synthetic spreadorder may be reported as a single order in the market window 1200. Asynthetic spread order may be launched from the market window 1200 as asingle tradable object. An example of a market grid is provided in U.S.Pat. No. 7,437,325, titled “System and Method for Performing AutomaticSpread Trading,” which is incorporated by reference in its entiretyherein.

Orders of a synthetic spread may be considered managed or unmanaged.Quoting and child hedge orders may be considered managed because one ormore tools, such as a spread tool (i.e., Autospreader), controlsbehavior of the managed orders, such as when and how the managed orderget submitted, changed, and/or deleted. When the synthetic spread iscreated and submitted, one or more child quoting orders are created andsubmitted for execution. In addition, one or more child hedge orders maybe created and held, or otherwise targeted for execution so thatsubmission of the child hedge orders is triggered by execution of one ormore of the child quoting orders of the synthetic spread. The managedchild orders may be considered the quoting and child hedge orders of thesynthetic spread. A Legged hedge orders, or hedge orders which have beenotherwise submitted for execution but not filled, may be consideredunmanaged orders of the synthetic spread. The spread trading tool, orother tool for tracking and reporting synthetic spread orders, may trackunmanaged constituents of a synthetic spread, but may no longer controlbehavior of the order. Thus, a spread trading tool may no longer managea legged child hedge order.

A synthetic spread order may be created as a single entity or tradableobject. As described, a synthetic spread order may be created accordingto an identified quantity and price for the synthetic spread order. Forexample, using the spread window 700, the trader may enter an order fora synthetic spread by selecting an area associated with a price level ofthe price column 718. As a result, a parent order for each lot of thesynthetic spread order is created. In addition, child orders for eachparent are generated and submitted in legs of the synthetic spreadaccording to at least user preferences and settings for the syntheticspread. Child hedge orders may be created and held until they are sentin response to fills or execution of other child orders.

A synthetic spread may be deleted and/or cancelled as a single entity ortradable object. After the synthetic order has been entered and thechild orders associated with the synthetic order have not been filled orexecuted, the synthetic order may be deleted, cancelled, placed on ahold, or otherwise prevented from being executed. Deletion may beeffected using a spread trading tool, such as Autospreader, thatlaunched the synthetic spread or otherwise submitted its child orders.Deleting a synthetic spread order may delete all managed components ofthe synthetic spread. In addition, deleting a synthetic spread order maydelete all unmanaged components of the synthetic spread. Accordingly, atrader may determine whether to delete unmanaged orders of a syntheticspread order when that synthetic spread order is deleted. For example, aDelete button on the window display 700 may be selected to delete all,some, or designated synthetic orders. When deleted, the working childquoting orders are deleted, and hedge orders are not sent.

An order for a synthetic spread also may be adjusted after the syntheticorder and its constituent child orders have been filled. That is, aprice of a working, pending and/or legged parent order may be changed. Aprice change to a synthetic spread may be effected using a spreadtrading tool, such as Autospreader, that launched the synthetic spreador otherwise submitted its child orders. When a synthetic order has beenadjusted after being submitted, such as when a price of the syntheticorder is changed, a price for one or more of the constituent childorders may be adjusted to reflect the price of the adjusted syntheticspread order according to the relationship between the parent orders andthe child orders of the spread, a definition of the spread, and/or userpreferences/settings. A price for working parent orders may be adjustedto reflect a price change for the synthetic spread. Quoting ordersassociated with one or more pending or legged parent orders may besubmitted for execution at the price level for child quoting orders forworking re-priced spread orders.

A quantity for a working parent order also may be affected. The quantitymay be changed according to a selection of a revised quantity using thespread trading tool, such as Autospreader, that launched the syntheticspread or otherwise submitted its child orders. The quantity may bechanged within a range of values, including changing a quantity of anorder to zero. Limits on the quantity may be determined according to oneor more factors, including user preferences/settings, limits set for byan exchange, clearinghouse, or other third-party and/or limits set by aregulating body. Where a quantity of the synthetic spread order isadjusted after it is entered, a quantity for one of more of theconstituent child orders may also be adjusted according to the accordingto the relationship between the parent orders and the child orders ofthe spread, a definition of the spread and/or settings. Quantities ofworking orders may be adjusted, whereas, quantities of legged or pendingorders may not be adjusted in response to adjusted a quantity for thesynthetic spread order. When a quantity is adjusted, a risk analysisperformed for the adjusted order may be performed to determine a newrisk position. For example, where a quantity is reduced, a risk reserveon held child hedge orders may also be reduced accordingly.

The child orders may also be changed or updated with tools other thanthe spread trading tool that launched the synthetic spread. For example,when a synthetic spread is launched, child quoting orders are submittedin one or more legs of the spread. The managed child quoting orders maybe changed in a window display, such as an MD_Trader window display orother application, for the corresponding leg of the spread, while thechild quoting order is being managed. The child quoting order may bechanged with other tools for managing orders, such as an order booktool. In addition, child quoting orders may be deleted, or adjusted withother tools.

Changes or deletion to a child hedge order may result in all managed andunmanaged components of a synthetic spread order being deleted.Alternatively or in addition, the synthetic spread associated with thechild hedge that was changed or deleted may remain legged. When a pricechange occurs for a child quoting order to a new price level, such asthrough a window display for the tradable object or an order book, thechild quoting order may be set to the new price level. The tool thatlaunched the synthetic spread order may adjust a target price forassociated hedge orders to obtain the spread, or may submit associatedhedge orders at or around the original target prices. In addition, othermanaged orders may not be affected.

When a quantity change to a managed child quoting order occurs, such asthrough a window display for the tradable object or an order book, thechild quoting order may be pulled or otherwise removed as a managedorder. All other quoting orders may also be removed, depending on userpreferences/settings. Legged parent orders may also be removed accordingpreferences selected by the user. When a child quoting order is deleted,a synthetic spread may remain if it is still possible to fill thesynthetic spread. Otherwise, the synthetic spread order may also beremoved.

An unmanaged child order may also be changed or altered with tools otherthan the spread trading tool that launched the synthetic spread. Forexample, a price of an unmanaged child order may be changed using awindow display for a tradable object corresponding to the leg of thespread in which the unmanaged child order exists or other tools such asan order book tool. When the price change of an unmanaged child orderoccurs, the synthetic spread from which the unmanaged child orderoriginated may remain active and may be completed. However, the originalprice of that synthetic spread may be affected by the price change tothe unmanaged child order when it is filled.

In an exemplary embodiment, the quantity of an unmanaged child order ischanged according to a selection of a revised quantity using a windowdisplay, such as an X_TRADER window. The quantity of the unmanaged childorder may be changed within a range of values, including changing aquantity of an order to zero. Limits may be determined according to oneor more factors, including user preferences/settings, limits set for byan exchange, clearinghouse, or other third-party and/or limits set by aregulating body. When an unmanaged child order, such as a legged hedgeorder is changed, the synthetic spread from which the unmanaged childorder originated may remain.

Where the quantity of the unmanaged child order is increased, theoriginal quantity may be used in the determination of the state andcounts of the synthetic spread order. For example, where a one-lotsynthetic order at a 3:2 ratio has been placed and the three orders inthe first leg have been filled and the two orders in the second leg(hedge orders) get legged, the count for the legged parent is 1(SO_(L)=1). If the quantity on the legged child order is increased from2 to 3, and one of the 3 gets filled, the count for the legged parentmay remain 1 (SO_(L)=1). The parent order will be considered filled whenone of the two remaining orders is filled. At this point, the remainingorder may continue to work, or may be removed.

The quantity of an unmanaged child order also may be decreased. In thatevent, a parent order may be considered permanently legged. For example,where the unmanaged order is decreased, and the remaining hedge order isfilled, the synthetic spread order cannot be filled since there is noremaining quantity to fill the synthetic spread. Similarly, when anunmanaged child order is deleted, the synthetic spread is deleted, thesynthetic may also be considered permanently deleted since the childorders cannot be filled. In the event where a synthetic spread order isconsidered permanently legged, the synthetic spread may be manually orautomatically removed or deleted.

A position or risk for a trader or group of traders may be determinedaccording a synthetic spread position, including positions for childquoting orders and child hedge orders of the synthetic spread. That is,by managing the synthetic spread order with its constituent child ordersas an integrated order, an accurate position for the trader may bedetermined before an order for the synthetic spread is submitted forexecution.

For example, when a synthetic spread order is created, the quotingorders may be submitted for execution, and hedge orders created or helduntil execution of one or more of the child quoting orders. Before thechild quoting orders are submitted for execution, a risk check may bemade considering the child quoting order and child hedge orders. Ifwithin acceptable or approved limits, the orders may be submitted. Afteran order is submitted, and one or more child orders have been filled,the position or risk analysis may be analyzed again to reflect anychanges. In addition, position or risk analysis may be analyzed withchanges to the managed and/or unmanaged orders. A description of aspread configuration window is provided in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/410,210, titled “System and Method for a Risk Check,” filed onMar. 24, 2009, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

Through management of the child orders of a synthetic spread, a targetedprice for the synthetic spread may be achieved. For example, a syntheticspread may be launched at the targeted price for the synthetic spread.As a result, at least one child quoting order is submitted to beexecuted, and at least one child hedge order associated with the atleast one child quoting order, and/or created and held pending executionof the at least one child quoting order.

In an example where a child quoting order is submitted in multiple legsfor a parent child order of the synthetic spread, price distortions dueto execution of child quoting orders in multiple legs may arise. Thatis, a targeted price of the synthetic spread may not achieved becausemultiple child quoting orders were executed where the synthetic spreadis defined to have only a child quoting order executed in only one leg.The price distortion may be minimized or eliminated by managing thechild quoting orders as a constituent of the synthetic spread orderand/or parent order. In the parent-child relationship child orders andparent orders are associated, and child quoting orders may be cancelledin response to execution of a child quoting order in another leg of thesynthetic spread order is executed. In an example where a syntheticspread has three legs A, B, and C, and child quoting orders aresubmitted and simultaneously working each of the three legs, executionof a child quoting order in one leg (Leg B) may trigger cancellation ofchild quoting order in the other legs (Legs A and C). Accordingly, atrue price for the synthetic spread order may be obtained or attemptedto be achieved.

In addition, the child quoting orders and child hedge orders may beassociated so that, in the event that a child quoting order may bedeleted before it is executed, the targeted spread price and quantitymay be achieved by managing other child quoting orders and theirassociated child hedge orders. In the event that multiple child quotingorders are executed prior to at least one child quoting order beingdeleted, an over fill of the synthetic spread may be possible. Theoverfilled synthetic spread order may be considered a double-fill,triple-fill or the like. That is, a quantity of the synthetic spreadorder may be more than a target quantity for the synthetic spread orderbecause at least one of the child quoting orders was not deleted beforeit was executed. However, in the event that one or more of the filledquoting orders is only partially filled, the order for the syntheticspread may not be overfilled.

In the event of multiple fills, a new parent order for each additionalfill may be created to track and manage the additional filled order. Asa result, a number of working orders, filled orders and pending ordersmay be increased. However, to match the original quantity of thesynthetic spread order, the number of working orders may be reduced bymanaging the child quoting orders and child hedge orders within theoriginal quantity of the synthetic spread order.

The order also may be managed to automatically unwind a syntheticspread. In exemplary embodiment of a synthetic spread in a pending stateor having at least one parent order pending, the filled child orders ofthe synthetic spread may be unwound or reversed and the synthetic spreadorder discontinued. That is, a user may select an unwind function, suchas by choosing a button on the spread tool window, the order book toolor the like to unwind the synthetic spread order.

A user also may establish a setting or preference to have a positionunwound in response to a trigger. The trigger may be an amount of timethat for an order, a price for order, a quantity for an order, or thelike. When triggered, the synthetic spread order and its constituentchild orders may be managed to unwind the synthetic spread order.Additionally or alternatively, when triggered, multiple options forunwinding the synthetic spread may be provided to the user. In anexample, the amount of time that a pending synthetic spread order existsis recorded. When the amount of time exceeds a threshold set by theuser, the synthetic spread order may be automatically unwound bycreating and submitting correcting child orders to reverse the pendingsynthetic spread order. In addition or alternatively, when the amount oftime exceeds the threshold, options with an associated estimated costfor each option may be presented. The user may select among the optionsto have the synthetic spread unwound.

A pending synthetic spread may be unwound by deleting working childorders of the pending synthetic spread and submitting constituentcorrecting child orders to reverse open positions of the syntheticspread, such that once the correcting child orders are filled, apositioned created by the pending spread is neutralized. That is, atradeout of the position of the pending spread that was produced up tothe point that the pending spread was unwound occurs. An unwind orderand constituent correcting child orders may be managed as a syntheticspread order as discussed. The unwind order and correcting child ordersmay have a price and quantities to flatten or neutralize the openpositions of the synthetic spread. In addition, a synthetic spread ordermay have several types of unwind orders and/or correcting child ordersto unwind the synthetic spread order.

For example, a pending synthetic spread order may be unwound bysubmitting correcting child orders that join the market and/or crossingthe spread market. That is, the synthetic spread may be unwound bysending a correcting child order in each leg of a synthetic spread thathas been filled to flatten or neutralize the position of the filledorder in that leg. The correcting child orders may be submitted at aninside market to be executed. Any quoting and child hedge orders of thesynthetic spread are cancelled and after execution of the correctingchild orders, the synthetic spread may be deemed reversed because of thecorrecting child order.

A pending synthetic spread also may be unwound by submitting an unwindorder to cross the market for the spread. The unwind order may includechild orders for each leg of the synthetic spread having at least onechild order that was executed. The child orders of the unwind order willeach have a quantity that neutralizes or flattens the child orders inthe corresponding leg. In addition, the child order of the unwind orderwill have a price at the inside market for the leg so that the childorders of the unwind order are executed upon submission, orsubstantially upon submission for execution. When the child orders ofthe unwind order are submitted, remaining child orders of the syntheticspread to be unwound may be cancelled, so that execution of the unwindorder will result in reversal of the synthetic spread order.

Multiple options for unwinding a synthetic spread may be presented. Theoptions may be presented automatically, in response to a user selection,and/or automatically in response to a trigger as discussed. The optionsmay include information for costs for each option presented. The costsmay be for example a profit or loss associated with the option. Theoption also may be selectable. By selecting the option, one or moreassociated functions for carrying out the option may be performed. Theoptions may include unwinding the spread by joining the market, bycrossing the spread market, and/or trading out of each leg. The optionsmay further include continuing to work the synthetic spread. Inaddition, an option for unwinding by joining the market may havesub-options for joining the market in each appropriate leg that wouldunwind the synthetic spread. By providing the options and associatedcosts, a user may identify a desirable option. The user may thereforeselect an option, and the synthetic spread therefore unwound.

Pending orders that may have been deleted also may be resurrected,automatically, manually or by a combination of automatically andmanually. Deletion of pending orders may have been intentional orunintentional. For example, pending order may be deleted as a result ofa thin market, a system, gateway, server or PC going down or beinginterrupted, an incorrect entry, other error conditions and the like. Toresurrect a pending order, deleted pending orders that may beresurrected may be presented and selected. In addition, a deletedpending order may be selected to be unwound as described or recreated asoriginally established. A button, a drop down menu or similar otherfeature may be presented to a user to select the resurrection featureand/or deleted pending orders that may be resurrected.

A synthetic spread may also be managed to bracket a legged syntheticspread order. The bracket for a synthetic spread order may beestablished to manage a legged synthetic spread order to mitigate a lossassociated with a spread order and/or to cover a gain associated with alegged order. Bracketing for a legged synthetic spread order may beidentified or established according to user preferences. FIG. 13illustrates an example of a spread configuration window 1300. The spreadconfiguration window 1300 may be used to establish or set parameters ofa synthetic spread and/or for managing a synthetic spread and itsconstituent parent and child orders. The spread window 1300 may beselected to set the parameters. The parameters include inside andoutside slop configuration, pricing choices, the of the spread, customeraccount, which legs to quote, adjustments and offset, payup ticks, ratiofor the synthetic spread, whether to cancel/replace of change an order,whether to check a price, a cover or upper bracket for a legged order, alower or order-cancel-order bracket for a legged spread order,parameters for unwinding a synthetic spread order and the like. The typeand number of parameters to be established may vary. The parameter maybe set by entering a desired setting in a corresponding data entry areafor the spread and/or leg of the spread, by selecting one or moreoptions from a drop down menu, by selecting from a choice or radiobuttons or the like. A description of a spread configuration window isprovided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,325, titled “System and Method forPerforming Automatic Spread Trading,” which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

The spread window configuration 1300 includes a cover bracket setting1302 to set an upper bracket for a legged order and an OCO setting 1304.The cover bracket and OCO bracket maybe set for one, multiple or alllegs of the synthetic spread order. The cover bracket and OCO bracketmaybe set by entering a targeted bracket. The targeted bracket may bebased on a number of ticks away from an entered order, a percentage ofthe entered order, a price, a desired profit, a worst case for a loss, aprice limit or the like. The targeted bracket may be the same ordifferent for both legs. In addition, the target bracket may be the sameor different between the cover bracket 1302 and the OCO bracket 1304. Inan example, a number representing a number of ticks is entered in boththe cover bracket and the OCO bracket for each leg of the syntheticspread. The spread configuration window 1300 illustrates that the coverbracket 1302 for LEG A is 1 tick, and LEG B is 3 ticks. The OCO bracket1304 for LEG A is 2 ticks, and LEG B is 4 ticks.

With the bracket established, an executed leg of a legged spread ordermay be bracketed. For example, when a leg parent order is detected,bracket orders may be entered in a filled leg to mitigate a loss andcancel the legged parent order and corresponding hedge order, and/or totake a gain and cancel the legged parent order and corresponding hedgeorder. In an example, a legged parent order may include a filled childorder in Leg A, and a pending hedge order in Leg B. In response toidentifying the legged parent order, a corresponding cover order may begenerated and a corresponding OCO order may be generated according tothe bracket parameters for a quantity that will flatten, neutralize orclose the filled order. Since an order for Leg A was filled, the coverorder at a price determined according to the bracket parameters will beentered or submitted for execution. In addition, the OCO order at aprice determined according to the bracket parameters will be submittedfor execution. In an example, the bracket order for the cover order is 1tick and for the OCO order is 2 ticks. Accordingly, the price of thecover order is 1 tick above the price of the filled order, and the priceof the OCO order is 2 ticks below the price of the filled order. Thecover order, the OCO order and the hedge order for the legged syntheticspread may be associated.

Upon execution of the cover order or the OCO order, other associatedbracket orders may be cancelled. Therefore, the legged synthetic spreadwill be considered unlegged and may be removed from being managed. Forexample, when the cover order is filled, any corresponding OCO order andhedge order will be cancelled. The cover reverses the pending order.Since the hedge order is cancelled, the synthetic spread also no longerexists as discussed. Similarly, when the OCO order is executed,corresponding cover and hedge orders are cancelled, and the syntheticspread no longer exists as discussed.

In an embodiment, bracket orders may be entered after a predeterminedtime when a legged order is detected. For example, one or more bracketorders may be entered after a first amount of time after the leggedorder is detected. In addition, a second bracket order may be enteredafter a second amount of time. The amount of time, may be any incrementset by the user.

In an embodiment, bracket orders may be entered based on an amount ofmovement after a legged order is detected. For example, one or morebracket orders may be entered after the market for the leg has moved apredetermined number of tick. The predetermined number of ticks can beset or adjusted by the user. In addition, a second bracket order may beentered after movement of the same number of ticks or additional numberof ticks.

In an embodiment, the bracket order may be entered based on apredetermined amount of time and based on market movement or number ofticks. One skilled in the art will recognize that other bracket ordersor types of orders are also possible and within the scope of theinvention.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the system and methods described above may be embodied in acomputer program product that includes one or more computer readablemedia. For example, a computer readable medium can include a readablememory device, such as a hard drive device, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or acomputer diskette, having computer readable program code segments storedthereon. The computer readable medium can also include a communicationsor transmission medium, such as, a bus or a communication link, eitheroptical, wired or wireless having program code segments carried thereonas digital or analog data signals.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. Therefore, all embodiments thatcome within the scope and spirit of the following claims and equivalentsthereto are claimed as the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, via a datareceiver of an electronic computing device, market data identifying aninside market for a first tradable object and a second tradable object;receiving, via a graphical user interface of the electronic computingdevice, a user request to trade a synthetic spread order for a quantityof a synthetic spread, the synthetic spread including a quoting leg fora first tradable object and a hedge leg for a second tradable object;and in response to receiving the user request via the graphical userinterface, submitting, via the electronic computing device to anelectronic exchange, a quoting order for the first tradable object; inresponse to receiving at the electronic computing device confirmation ofa fill of at least part of the quoting order, submitting, via theelectronic computing device to the electronic exchange, a hedge orderfor the second tradable object; determining, via the electroniccomputing device, whether the synthetic spread order has a filled legand an unfilled leg, where the hedge order is unfilled and the quotingorder is filled; determining, via the electronic computing device,whether the inside market for the first tradable object has moved apredetermined amount according to monitoring the market data for theinside market for the first tradable object; in response to determiningthat the inside market has moved the predetermined amount and that thesynthetic spread order has the filled leg and the unfilled leg,submitting, via the electronic computing device to the electronicexchange, a bracket order for the first tradable object; and displaying,via the graphical user interface, an order descriptor representing astatus of the synthetic spread order.
 2. The method of claim 1 where theunfilled leg comprises at least one child hedge order for the firsttradable object.
 3. The method of claim 2 where the at least one childhedge order comprises at least a partial quantity pending execution atan electronic exchange.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprisingsubmitting an order message to the electronic exchange in response toexecution of the bracket order, where the order message is configured tocancel the at least one child hedge order.
 5. The method of claim 1where the bracket order comprises any one of a cover order and anorder-cancels-order.
 6. The method of claim 1 where a price for thebracket order is determined according to a position associated with thefilled leg.
 7. The method of claim 6 where the position associated withthe filled leg is an open position.
 8. The method of claim 6 furthercomprising determining the price according to a user request.
 9. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising submitting the bracket order inresponse to determining that the inside market has moved a predeterminedamount after identifying the synthetic spread order.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising determining that the inside market has movedthe predetermined amount and submitting the bracket order according to adefined parent-child relationship for the synthetic spread order. 11.The method of claim 1 further comprising submitting the bracket order ata predetermined amount of time after determining that the syntheticspread order includes the filled leg and the unfilled leg.